Asked what she would have said if someone had told her last week that she would go so far in the first major of the year, a smiling Mertens added: "I'd laugh a little bit. But of course everything is possible in tennis.

"If you believe in yourself, then anything can happen. But of course semis is 'wow.'"

Svitolina revealed she had been troubled by a hip injury since winning the Brisbane International and will discuss with her team whether to take a break from the tour.

The world number four from Ukraine said: "Today was very tough for me physically. I was not ready to produce a good level of tennis. She's a great player, she has a good level, I couldn't match it because physically it was very tough for me.

"I started to feel it [the injury] after the final in Brisbane. Then it was getting worse and was up and down. I always had heavy tape under the shorts. Sometimes it was fine, but today she was playing a good level, so I had to push myself.

"She didn't give me opportunities. All the credit to her, because she played really good tennis."